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Baseball players make college commitments

Three Federal Way school district baseball players already know where they will attend college. Thomas Jefferson seniors-to-be Jason Summers and Jarett Jackson and Beamers Carsten Bocchi all made verbal commitments last week. The three will officially sign National Letters of Intent in November.

Summers will play at the University of Washington and Jackson and Bocchi will be teammates at Washington State University.

It seemed like the right fit for me and I will get a chance to play, Summers said about UW. I like their academic program and like the coaches.

The Husky baseball program has developed into one of the better programs in the rugged Pac-10 Conference. Washington finished last season with a 33-22 record after starting the season as the eighth-ranked team in the nation. Their 12-12 record in the Pac-10 left them in sixth place in the league after finishing second in 2004.

Summers finished the 2005 season with a .417 batting average, four home runs, 15 runs and 18 RBIs for TJ. The Raiders ended up as the fourth-place team from the South Puget Sound League South Division. It was the second year in a row TJ has played in the postseason.

Jackson was also a huge bright spot for the Raiders in his first season at TJ and should provide some pop in the Washington State lineup. The powerful third baseman hit .404 with six home runs and 26 RBIs. Jackson played his freshman and sophomore years at Kennedy High School in Burien.

Bocchi was the catalyst in Beamers improbable run to the schools first-ever SPSL South championship in the spring. The left-handed pitcher/outfielder finished 5-2 with a 2.12 earned-run average and 52 strikeouts in 43 innings of work on the mound. He also led the Titans with a .423 average with two home runs and 11 RBIs at the plate. Bocchi was also named the SPSL South co-Most Valuable Player and the Mirrors All-City Player of the Year.

I just liked the campus and the coaching staff, Bocchi said. They are an up-and-coming program and are getting a lot of the best players around.

The Cougars struggled in the spring under second-year coach Donnie Marbut. Washington State finished 21-37 overall, but went just 1-23 in Pac-10 play. Bocchi and Jackson will join Federal Way High School graduates Kyle Henselman and Jon Flood and 2005 Decatur grad Ross Humes on the Cougars roster.

Summers and Jackson recently returned from the prestigious 2005 Area Code Games in Long Beach, Calif. The pair played for the Seattle Mariner-sponsored team that finished 4-1. Summers finished 5-for-11 and Jackson was 6-for-13 at the plate.

The 28-member Area Code Team included players from Washington, Idaho, Oregon and California and was selected by Mariner area scout Phil Geisler. The Area Code Games featured the best 250 high school players from the United States, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Canada and Australia.

It was amazing, Summers said. There were 300 scouts there. The first couple games were kind of nerve-racking, but after that we just started to play ball.

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